My big kids still crack up about the cannibal Santa jokes, and my youngest loves the cleverly-created gingerbread men.

Love how this book walks you through the life of a pirate cookie. How big the world seems and how many unknowns there are for the captain and his crew. This is a great book for students who love to dream and imagine what it would be like if their toys came to life. ( )

Kind of a cute idea, but I had to do some regendering so that there was a LITTLE more gender diversity among the male child, the male gingerbread pirate captain, the male crew, the male santa claus .... Luckily Santa is easy to regender. ( )

When Jim and his mother make gingerbread men for Santa's visit one Christmas Eve, the young boy asks that they make the cookies in the form of pirates. Keeping Captain Cookie for himself, Jim falls asleep while the sweet creation mulls on what he has heard of this cookie-eating cannibal known as Santa. Determined to rescue the other gingerbread pirates, the captain sets out on an epic journey, one in which he learns a little bit about what Christmas is, and finds himself transformed into something a little more permanent...

With Christmas cookies, Santa's midnight visit, and pirates - what's not to love?!? The Gingerbread Pirates pairs an entertaining and creative seasonal story from author Kristin Kladstrup with appealing artwork from illustrator Matt Tavares, who, amongst other titles, has also produced an edition of T'was the Night Before Christmas. Recommended to young cookie and/or pirate lovers who are in the market for magical Christmas stories. ( )

While looking for a Christmas book other than a Nickelodeon-esque retelling of The Night Before Christmas at BN last night, I found this and knew my littles would love it, and they did! Luckily I enjoyed it too, since they want me to read it every night before bed until Christmas (and probably after as well!)

( )